New Senate seat plan is GOP power play that will cost taxpayers

The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle wrote an editorial calling Senate Republicans out on their reneged campaign promises of redistricting reform. Senator Gianaris believes this kind of political power play is intolerable.

Many of the same Republican state lawmakers who hoodwinked New Yorkers into thinking they supported independent redistricting now insist that adding one more seat in the state Senate is good government. Unlikely.

This time around New Yorkers need to let GOP lawmakers know that their ploy for power is as transparent as plastic wrap. Call them and tell them so.

Here's what's happening: Despite Gov. Andrew Cuomo's vow to veto any redistricting plan that's not drawn by an independent panel, lawmakers are proceeding as usual. Sen. Michael Nozzolio is a leading defender of the plan that seeks a 63rd Senate seat.

Never mind that redistricting rules require New York to lose two congressional seats as a result of slowed population growth. And don't forget that adding a new Senate seat will cost taxpayers possibly more than $1 million a year. Remember, too, this plan is from the same political party that supposedly wants to reduce the size of government and taxpayer spending. Right.